Changes
by Kari-chan-06
Summary: Sequel to “Hidden Enemy”. While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend. And yes, this is going to be KIBBS!
1. Home

Changes

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Sequel to "Hidden Enemy". While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend. (And yes, this is going to be KIBBS!)

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1- Home

"Tony, I´m not invalid!" Kate complained and tried to grab her bag from Dinozzo. She winced when a sharp pain shot through her left shoulder and bit her lip. It had been almost two weeks since Ari had almost killed her. Until now, her colleagues had been evading her questions on what had happened during those days she had been unconscious. Especially Gibbs had been rather distant lately. He had visited her once for a few minutes to tell her that he wanted her to take the time she needed.

Being hurt in the line of duty was one thing, being attacked at night by a mad man was something different. Abby had been with her a lot and so had Tony, but Kate had secretly hoped that her boss would finally drop his shield and talk to her about what had happened. She was a trained profiler and could sense that he was hiding something from her. And she knew it wasn´t about the recent events.

"Ducky said no strenous activities and carrying heavy bags definetely is strenous. Abby said she´ll bring you some food over tonight. I need to be at work in about twenty minutes or Gibbs will kill me for taking too long for lunch." He told her and put her bag into the bedroom.

Kate looked at him in disbelief. "He doesn´t know you´ve been taking me home?" She asked incredulous and saw the grin on her face. "Tony!"

He raised his hands in defeat. "Hey, he´s been even worse than his usual self lately and we´re not sure what we did to piss him off so royally this time. If you got any idea, spill it." He said and got a soft cover from her bed which he put onto the couch. "Are you going to sit down or do I have to handcuff you to the couch?"

She sighed and sat down on the couch, pulling the cover over her a bit. "Happy now, Dinozzo?" She snapped at him and watched a grin speading over his face.

"Sure am. I´m outta here, see you later." He grabbed his coat and disappeared through the front door a moment later. She heard his car starting down in the street and sighed. It was quiet now and Kate got up again to lock the front door, making sure the deadbolt was in place too. It was barely noon and there was nothing on TV except for some stupid talk show.

Nestling into the cover, she tried to keep her mind off the recent events. The night Ari had suddenly appeared next to her car with that knife had embedded itself deeply in her memory. She would still shoot up at night from that memory, sometimes screaming. Ducky had told her that the shock would take time to fade, but she wasn´t sure if it ever would. The sound of her cell phone startled her and she picked it up. The caller ID told her it was her boss. "Yes?" She said as she accepted the call.

"Where are you?" Gibbs asked, sounding either angry or extremely breathless as he was spacing out the words quite a bit.

"Hello to you too, Gibbs." Kate replied and rolled her eyes. She had tried to teach him some basic manners ever since he had offered her the job on his team, but even after two years, it didn´t seem to make the least impression on him. "And just for your information, I´m at home, taking the rest Ducky has prescribed to me."

There was no answer and the line went dead a second later. Checking the clock at the wall, Kate realized that she had been sitting on her couch for over an hour after Tony had left. She didn´t remember doing anything during that time and wondered how far her thoughts had taken her away. She half expected Gibbs to arrive soon and give her some lecture, but nothing happened. At 6 pm, there was a soft knock at the door. "Who´s there?" Kate asked as she shut off the TV and put the cover onto an armchair.

"It´s me." Abby answered and shifted the heavy bags she was carrying. She had gotten enough groceries to get through at least two weeks without another tour to the store. She almost fell into the apartment when the door was suddenly opened. "Ooops..." She caught her balance just in time to keep the bags from tumbling to the floor and looked into Kate´s surprised face.

"Abby, hi." Her friend greeted her and let her in, locking the door again a moment later. "Who else is coming for dinner?" Kate asked then and followed the goth into the kitchen.

"Nobody I know about. I´m just making sure you don´t have to go out for anything while you´re on sick leave." Abby replied and tossed some packs into the freezer. When she was done, she grabbed two cans of soda and slumped onto the couch. "How are you doing, Kate?" She then asked and studied the woman who now sat on the other side of the couch.

Kate ran her hand through her hair and put her can of soda onto the table. "I guess I´m okay. Ducky said it will take time to deal with this." She replied and tried to smile a bit. "I got a weird call from Gibbs this afternoon. What´s been eating him lately?" She asked and noted that there was something in Abby´s eyes for a moment. It was gone too quickly to identify it though.

"No clue, I guess he´s still pissed about being arrested and put into hospital for three days in a row." Abby replied just a tiny bit too quickly. She looked out of the window, adding to Kate´s suspicion. She was a trained profiler and could easily tell that her friend was hiding something.

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Note: Thanks to all who have read and reviewed the prequel "Hidden Enemy". I´m glad I managed to get you set up for this little story here -it´s not what you might expect, so feel free to comment.


	2. Finding out

Changes

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Sequel to "Hidden Enemy". While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend. (And yes, this is going to be KIBBS!)

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2- Finding out

"Abby, don´t lie to me." Kate said and put her hand on her friend´s arm. "Why is everyone hiding something from me? I thought we always wanted to be open with each other. I just want to know what happened and why my boss treats me like I blew up his favorite Starbuck´s." She told her. At least from Abby, she had expected some explanation. "Just tell me, Abby, please."

The goth hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath. "You know, everyone thought he had stabbed you. Ari had put his fingerprints onto the knife and his skin under your nails." Abby said, looking at Kate, who looked taken aback. "He was drugged and kinda taken hostage. Ari wore his shirt when he stabbed you, later put it back on Gibbs when he placed him at his house. He used his car too, so a witness could identify it later. It was a frame-up, probably the best I´ve ever seen. I mean, there was only evidence against him at first. If Tony hadn´t insisted on checking everything down to molecular size, he would have gone to jail and you would be dead."

Kate swallowed hard. She had heard about her colleagues spending almost four days at the office to find the person who had attacked her, but she had thought that Gibbs had been with them. These news were completely new to her and she just stared at Abby, who seemed really uncomfortable to tell her about this. "All of it, Abby. I need to know what happened." She pleaded and felt a knot in her stomach. Those feelings she had tried to bottle up were about to break through again and she hated it when this happened.

Abby looked at her for a short moment. "Just promise me that you´re not telling anyone I told you. Gibbs will kill me for sure when he finds out." She said. "Morrow put us on that case because he wanted to make sure that everything was taken into account -and because he too didn´t think that Gibbs could have hurt you. We found Gibbs´ DNA under your nails, your blood on his shirt. He claimed to remember nothing about that specific night and passed out in interrogation. Ducky brought him to Bethesda for observation and we found residues of chloroform in his blood. Then there was tobacco in his car and his DNA on the passenger seat. It just seemed really odd all of the sudden."

"I just remember those shots and seeing Ari and Gibbs on the floor." Kate said as the memory of that first image came back to her. She had seen the pain in his eyes, but also something else she had never seen before. Something that made her feel safe just from looking at it for a few moments.

"There was a hair stuck to the inside of the shirt. I ran it and it brought up Ari immediately. Tony and Tim raced to the hospital and Morrow immediately cleared Gibbs. He came in just in time to keep Ari from killing you. Ari beat him pretty good and he ended up with a dislocated shoulder and a concussion, not speaking about the innumerable bruises. Some are still there." She finished the story and saw a single tear rolling down Kate´s face. "Oh, Kate..." She embraced her carefully.

"Thanks for telling me, Abby. At least now I know what I´m dealing with. You really spent four days at the office?" Kate then asked, trying to sound a bit more cheerful. She actually felt awful about it all, but knew how to hide it for the time being.

Abby smiled a bit. "I think we did. I don´t remember much about the last day and a half -major sleep deprivation. Tony almost wrecked his car when he drove back from the hospital on the third day. Tim was scared to death. We wanted to get this over with -having your best friend in hospital and your boss arrested is not really fun." She said and looked at her watch. "Sorry, I got to run now. If you need anything, just call me, okay?"

Kate got up as well and gave her a hug. "I will, thanks, Abby. Are you coming over tomorrow?" She asked and smiled when she saw the goth nod before walking out the front door. Kate watched until Abby disappeared out of sight and locked the door again. She simply slid down to the floor and started to cry bitterly. She now knew why her colleagues had not told her any details about the recent events and a part of her wished that she hadn´t asked about it.

After a few minutes, Kate got up and walked into the bathroom. Taking her shirt off, she examined the two wounds on her chest. Both seemed to heal nicely and the internal damage was causing her more trouble than those small exterior wounds. She knew that she would be sore for a while, but she was also determined to get back to her job soon. There was something she needed to get sorted out first.


	3. Toby

Changes

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Sequel to "Hidden Enemy". While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend. (And yes, this is going to be KIBBS!)

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3- Toby

When Abby returned tothe house that night, she heard the TV in the basement. With a sigh, she walked down the stairs and watched him sand the boat for a moment. "You´re supposed to take it easy, Jethro." She told him and he looked at her, wiping the dust from his face. After a moment, he returned his gaze to the wood and continued to sand it.

Abby walked down until she stood next to him. "You´re going to be sore tomorrow if you don´t give your shoulder a rest." She said and put her hand on his. He stopped again and put the sander down on the utility table. He took a sip from a half empty scotch bottle and just looked at her. "Let´s go upstairs. You need to hit the shower and I´ll fix us something to eat."

Gibbs shook his head. "I´m not hungry." He replied and felt her hand on his arm. She tightened her grip and forced him to look at her. "What?"

"You can´t keep this up. You´re just going to hurt yourself. You´ve been hiding down here for two weeks now." She told him and met his ice blue eyes. They were hard and cold, like they had been for a while now. With a sigh, she turned around and walked back up the stairs. He was such a stubborn bastard sometimes. When she reached the top stair, she turned around again. "Someone once told me that we can´t change the things life brings up to us and that we have to accept those paths." Abby told him and disappeared into the kitchen.

Gibbs smiled a bit at her words. He knew that she was right, but somehow he wasn´t sure if he was brave enough to face this yet. He had been thinking about it for a long time, but the fear was still stronger. Most people would have wondered if they had heard this from him. After all, he had the reputation that nothing could ever scare him. Switching the light off, he walked upstairs and went straight into the shower. His shoulder hurt again and he could almost hear Ducky telling him off for not resting enough. He didn´t feel like sitting around all day long right now -being on desk duty was enough rest to his mind.

Abby was in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled like pasta. She didn´t turn around when he walked in. "Tomato sauce or just oil for you?" She asked and put pasta on two plates. From the corner of her eye she saw him grab a can of beer from the fridge. "Okay, tomato it is." She put the plate down in front of him and got her own a moment later. "You really need a girl, Jethro." She then said as she shoved the first bit of pasta into her mouth.

He looked at her, almost dropping the fork. "Abbs..." He growled at her, but she simply smiled at him. She had never been scared to tell him straight away what she was thinking.

"I know, you´ve tried three times and it never worked, but who said that the right one isn´t out there? Maybe she´s closer than you think." She said and grinned when he dropped half of his pasta from his fork. His eyes gave him away for a short moment. "Eat up or it will get cold." Abby added quickly before he could say anything.

Gibbs put their plates into the sink after theyhad finished and followed her into the livingroom. "It´s getting late." He said when he saw her switching through the TV channels. Abby turned around and looked at him, but she didn´t say anything.

"It´s not even 11 pm!" She protested after a moment and watched how he switched the TV off. "Why are you always doing that?" She told him and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Abby knew that she had no chance, but she still tried to stare him down. She had managed once, but that was only because he had been running a fever of almost 102° at that time.

"Breakfast is at 6:30 am tomorrow -and there won´t be pancakes if you sleep in, Abbs." He told her and watched her walk upstairs. She gave him a death glare and turned left, disappearing through the black curtain. He smiled a bit and decided to retire as well. "You know, Toby, if I had known what I would get myself into, I wouldn´t have made that promise." He said silently as he looked at a picture hanging on the wall.

From his bedroom, he heard some music coming from the other end of the hallway. He didn´t mind and just closed his eyes. It was getting late and the moon was shining in. His cell phone suddenly started to ring and he almost jumped out of his skin. Without checking the caller ID, he flipped it open. "Gibbs."

"Did I wake you up?" A voice asked and he felt his heart skip a beat. He had counted on almost anyone to call him at such a time, but not her. Especially not after the recent events. They had not talked about it yet and he dreaded that moment somehow.

"No, you didn´t." He replied and tried to think of something to say to her, but his mind seemed blank.

There was a short silence. "Are you mad at me?" He heard Kate ask after a moment and noted that she sounded confused somehow.

"No." Gibbs felt pretty stupid about such a short answer, but he didn´t know what to say.

"Okay, sorry for calling so late. Bye." She hung up again and he just heard the busy signal echoing from the phone. He just stared at the phone for a moment before putting it back on the nightstand. Her words were still echoing in his mind.


	4. Scotch

Changes

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Sequel to "Hidden Enemy". While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend. (And yes, this is going to be KIBBS!)

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4- Scotch

Gibbs walked into the bullpen at 7:30 am the following morning, right after dropping Abby off at the lab. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the person sitting at one of the desks. She looked up when he approached and he noted that she had a forced smile on her face. "What in this world are you doing here, Agent Todd?" He snapped at her and wondered why a small part of him was glad to see her.

The look in her eyes gave away that she was surprised by his reaction, but she recovered quickly. "Investigating." Kate replied and continued to read through a file that lay open on her desk. She looked up again when he snatched the file from her desk. A quick glance told him that she had pulled out Dinozzo´s report on the attack.

"You are on sick leave for the next five days so you better get yourself back home or I will have to take you there personally." He threatened and stored the file back in the cabinet. The moment his face was hidden from her, he let his mask slip for a second and smiled, but when he turned back towards her, he had rid his features of any and all emotions again.

Kate stood leaned against her desk now, arms crossed in front of her chest. "I´m not going until someone tells me what happened." She insisted and winced when he took a hold of her shoulder to force her towards the elevator. He let go immediately and there was something like concern in his eyes for a moment. She could see a certain amount of pain in there as well and noted that he held his left shoulder in a slightly defensive position.

He sighed and leaned against Tony´s desk, his blue eyes searching for something behind her. "You´re just going to get yourself hurt if you start working too soon, Kate. I won´t let that happen." He told her in a command like tone and watched for any reaction.

"Well, looks like it´s the same for you, Gibbs." She said and walked up to him until their faces were just inches apart. She felt his breath on her face for a moment before she put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to bite his lip. "You´re going to dislocate your shoulder again if you keep this up." With that she turned on her heel and walked out of the bullpen.

When Dinozzo and McGee came in, Gibbs was still standing in the middle of the room with a puzzled expression on his face. He had let the chance to talk to her pass without taking it up. It would have been so easy. If he had reached out for her, everything would have changed, but he hadn´t done so. He looked at his agents and returned to his desk. For the rest of the day, he snapped at them more than usually, but they put it on the fact that they were still one agent short at the moment.

Abby had gone to her apartment for the night. Many people wondered how she could live in such a tiny place, but nobody actually knew that she wasn´t living there most of the time. She was worried about Gibbs lately. He had changed in his behavior, not noticable for anyone, but she had known him long enough to see it. After fixing something to eat, she tried to call him, but he didn´t answer the phone. She tried his cell, but he didn´t answer that either. It wasn´t like him. It was not his anniversary with any of the three wifes, so he had no reason to ignore calls. Plus he had her number on his caller ID, which made it seem even stranger.

After a while, she took her coat and drove over to his house. The TV was running in the basement, but there wasn´t the usual sound of the sander. She was about to go downstairs when she heard a car stop in front of the house. Seeing Kate get out, she ran upstairs and disappeared through the curtain. Nobody had ever seen her at his house and he always parked a block away to make sure her car wasn´t seen around. Either one of them would be transferred if anyone found out, at least that´s what Gibbs kept telling her.

The front door opened with a creak and Kate stuck her head in. "Gibbs?" She called and wondered why the lights were on. He didn´t seem to be home until she heard glass shattering in the basement. Carefully, Kate walked in and pulled her gun out. She had tried to call him a couple of times, but he hadn´t answered her calls. She looked down into the basement and put her gun away. The picture broke her heart into millions of pieces. Gibbs sat below the skeleton of his boat, a cup in his hands. A bottle lay shattered on the floor and some golden liquid slowly crept across the floor.

When she walked down the stairs, his head shot up and she noted the look of pain in his eyes. "Whatcha doin here, Katie?" He asked and she noted that his speech was slurred. Kate had seen him drink half a bottle of scotch without any sign of being drunk afterwards, so she figured it had been a lot more today to get him so messed up.

It scared her to see him like this. He was not the strong special agent she knew from work right now, he was vulnerable like a small child. She sat down in front of him and took the cup from his hands. He didn´t try to stop her and just looked at her for a while. "What´s wrong, Gibbs?" She finally asked and he gave a short laugh.

"Nothin´s wrong, Katie, nothin´ at all." He said and grinned a bit. It was obvious that he was lying to her. She kept her eyes locked on him until he took a deep breath. "My life´s a freakin´ hell. Can´t get anything right." He said and looked down at his hands that were covered in sawdust.

Kate put her hand on his arm. "You´re drunk, Gibbs. You should go to bed." She tried to reason, but he didn´t move. It hurt her to see him like this and she was not prepared for the story he was about to tell her.


	5. Secrets

Changes

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Sequel to "Hidden Enemy". While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend. (And yes, this is going to be KIBBS!)

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5- Secrets

Gibbs looked at her again, his eyes moist with tears now. It was something she had never seen from him and for some reason it scared her a bit. "Only one thing I got right in my life. Promised Toby I´d take care of her and I did." He said and wiped a tear away, leaving a streak of sawdust on his cheek. Kate resisted the urge to wipe the dirt away and just listened to him. He was drunk and probably wouldn´t remember any of this in the morning. It seemed like these memories had been bottled up for a very long time. "Toby´s been my best pal in corps. Made me godfather to his daughter -beautiful family he had. Wife was run over by some drunk. Toby caught a bullet -that bullet was intended for me, ya know?"

Kate still had her hand on his arm. She could feel him shaking a bit and wasn´t sure if it was from the alcohol or because he was upset. She wanted to hug him and show him that she cared, but she couldn´t move. She was too shocked right now.

He coughed a bit and ran his hand through his hair in come uncoordinated movement, leaving more sawdust there. "She was five when I took her. Grew up fine, even with some bastard like me raisin´ her." His hand fumbled something out of his pocket, but she couldn´t see it yet. "She´s my life, always been. I tried to give her a family, but always failed. Haven´t been a good example for her. It´s a miracle she turned out so well..." His voice broke and more tears trickled down his face. "Just want to be happy, just want someone who can take that bastard I am." He muttered and she noted that his voice was becoming fainter. He shifted until he was stretched out on the floor more or less. His eyes closed by themselves and a soft snore told her that he had fallen asleep.

Something clattered onto the floor and she picked it up. It was a small locket that held two pictures. One was of a young couple and a young child. The second one was the picture of the woman, who was very familiar to her. "He told you?" A soft voice came from the stairs and Kate shot up in surprise. Abby was sitting on top of the stairs, looking at her. "Let´s get him to bed, it´s too cold down here." She then said and walked down to the basement, her eyes wet with tears.

Kate figured that she had been there for a while, but didn´t ask anything yet and handed her the locket. Together they managed to drag him upstairs and into his bedroom. She noticed the black curtain that sealed off half of the upper level. "He´s a good guy with a big heart somewhere below that hard shell." Abby said silently as she pulled the cover over his body and returned to the hallway.

Both sat down in the livingroom a few minutes later. Kate was still shocked and didn´t quite understand all of it. "Gibbs is your godfather?" She asked after a while and Abby nodded. They had been friends for a while, but she had never known about this. It had never turned up in any file and she wondered if there was anyone who had known about it.

"When my dad died, I had no living relatives. My parents had made sure that I would be turned over to his care if anything happened to them. This was their house, too. Jethro took me in and raised me like his own child. It wasn´t always easy for him. He gave up the marine corps to be here for me. That´s how he got into NCIS. I guess my affection to forensics goes back to all the time I spent with him. Nobody knew who I was when I started to work there. He had made sure I got that job in the lab. He put me above everything else all those years. That´s why his marriages failed. None of them was ready to accept the fact that he would first look at me before they came." Abby told her and a single tear rolled down her face.

Kate just nodded. She was still confused, but slowly began to see the whole picture. She had always sensed a special bond between those two, but never thought it was so much. "He can be a really sweet person, if he has enough coffee and nobody is watching." She said and noted a smile on her friend´s face.

"He´s different when you´re around. He changed the very day you met him on Air Force One. He never said please to anyone before, not once in his life. There is something really special between the two of you. That´s why he invented rule 12 the day you came to NCIS. He tries to protect himself from being hurt again." Abby said and motioned her friend to follow. She walked back upstairs and opened the door to his bedroom. A small beam of light from the hallway cut into the darkness and fell on the sleeping figure. "He´s lonely, but I can´t give him the hold he needs to get his life sorted out. He´s scared beyond anything to lose you, that´s why he never asked you out." She said and felt uncomfortable all of the sudden. Maybe she was making it all worse right now, but she just had to tell Kate. Gibbs was like a father for her and she was sick of seeing him sad.

It took a few moments until Kate felt a smile creeping onto her face. She didn´t find the right words, but her heart was going out for that grumpy marine, who was sound asleep on his bed. She had always known that he had a soft spot somewhere, eventhough she had not expected it to be something like this. "I don´t want to hurt him, Abby. I really care about him, but I tried to lock those feelings up because he kept telling me about rule 12." She finally said and continued to look at her boss. Actually, she didn´t see him as just that at this moment.

"He´s not going to remember anything tomorrow. And he´s going to feel awful -he´s been doing this a couple of times. Mainly after you got hurt on duty. Don´t let him know I told you, okay?" Abby said and they walked downstairs again. She checked her watch, looking a bit hesitant. "I was going to meet some friends tonight..."

Kate smiled. "Just go, Abby. I´ll be watching him." She said and returned to his bedroom after Abby had left the house. She was curious about what lay behind that curtain, but didn´t dare to look. She sat down on the empty side of the bed and watched him sleep. He was going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning.


	6. Breakfast Surprises

Changes

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Sequel to "Hidden Enemy". While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend.

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6- Breakfast surprises

The following morning Gibbs woke with a splitting headache. The few rays of sun that crept through the curtains made the pain even worse. He tried to remember what happened the night before, but it was just one giant blur. Even thinking hurt and he groaned. There was some movement next to him and he found himself face to face with probably the last person he had expected in his bedroom. Closing his eyes, Gibbs prayed that he was hallucinating or dreaming or both at once, but when he opened them again, he met those brown eyes again. Her hair was messed up and she looked rather sleepy, but he also thankfully noticed that she was fully dressed.

Kate smiled when she saw him stir awake. She sat up and took a small package from the nightstand. "How you feeling?" She asked in a low voice and watched him pull a face. "Here, take those." She handed him four tablets and a glass of water.

Gibbs swallowed all at once and closed his eyes again. "Not happening." He muttered and felt a new wave of pain exploding in his head. He eventually dozed off for a few more minutes and didn´t notice how Kate got up. She made some extra strong coffee and rummaged through the fridge for some breakfast. She put everything onto the table and went into the small bathroom on the ground floor to get her hair straightened out.

Upstairs Gibbs woke again with a start. He rolled over onto his side and slowly opened his eyes. His bedroom was empty and he sighed. "Stupid dream." He thought to himself and smiled a bit at the thought of Kate in his bedroom. It would have been a bit too good to be true. His head still felt like it was going to explode, but he got up anyway. He stumbled into the bathroom that lay next to his bedroom and washed his face, noticing some sawdust in his hair as well. "Thank god it´s weekend." He muttered as he studied the shadows under his eyes. His memory about the night before was still dim. He remembered sanding his boat, he remembered drinking scotch, but he didn´t remember how he had made it to bed.

He pulled on some fresh clothes, walked downstairs and looked at the breakfast that was set on the table. He figured that Abby had decided to stay the night again and sat down in front of one of the plates. He took a bite from his toast and tried to remember anything about the night before. He was so lost in thought that he didn´t look up when soft steps came into the kitchen and a woman sat down next to him.

Kate smiled a bit when she saw him at the table. He looked like he had one hell of a hangover, but that wasn´t really surprising. She took a bite from her bacon and was about to reach for her cup of coffee when he suddenly jumped up, sending the chair crashing into the counter behind him. Kate jumped as well, sending the cup falling off the table. "Geez, Gibbs! You scared me half to death." She said as she knelt down to pick up the pieces.

Brushing a hand over his face, Gibbs felt a wave of pain rolling through his head again. He groaned and picked his chair up again, slumping down on it with. "What are you doing here?" He finally asked and rubbed his temples to relieve the pain a bit.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you." She replied and threw the broken cup into the trash, fetching herself a new one from the cupboard. When she sat back down, she noticed the questioning look on his face and smiled. "A whole bottle of scotch at once is not a good idea." She then said and his eyes widened slightly.

He dropped his fork and put his head into his hands. "Just tell me I didn´t harass you or something." He muttered and heard the blood rushing in his ears. This had to be some kind of nightmare.

She simply smiled at him. "You didn´t. Now, eat up." She said and continued to chew on her toast. They didn´t talk during the rest of breakfast, which she was rather grateful for. After putting their plates into the sink, Kate turned to look at him. "Well, since you seem capable to take care of yourself again, I better get going." She said and walked to the couch where her purse lay. When she picked it up, a hand closed around her wrist, forcing her to turn around.

Gibbs wasn´t sure why he reacted this way, but for once he wasn´t trying to battle down his instinct. First of all, his head hurt too much for it and secondly he felt that something had happened the night before. "Kate, please wait." He told her and tried to read her eyes. She met his blue eyes and felt this strange safety again. Something seemed to pull her closer to him and she noticed that she was just inches from his face now. "Tell me what happened last night."

She sat down on the couch next to him. "Only when you tell me what happened while I was at the hospital. You´ve been avoiding me ever since." She said and he nodded after a few seconds. "I came to talk to you about what happened two weeks ago. Lights were on and the door was open, so I came in and started looking for you. I found you down in the basement." She told him and saw something like realization dawn on his face.

She couldn´t say for sure, but for a moment it looked like he was going to blush. "I...I guess I had one too many drinks, huh?" He said and saw her nod. He closed his eyes for a moment and some bits of the night came back to him. "Kate, I´m sorry for whatever I said. I..."

"You were honest, Jethro. Maybe for the first time in front of me." She said softly and he noted that she used his first name. Only very few had the privilege to use it without having him at their necks afterwards. "I didn´t know about Abby until you told me last night. I had no idea you felt like that about your life."

A single tear escaped from his eye and he felt embarrassed all of the sudden. "I didn´t mean to tell you all that, I´m sorry." He said quickly and got up, walking up to the window. His hands were shaking and he felt this old fear sneaking up on him again. "If you want to ask for a transfer, go ahead. I won´t force you to stay on the team." He then said and knew that he wasn´t going to live this down ever.


	7. So Simple, So Complicated

Changes

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything

Summary: Sequel to "Hidden Enemy". While Kate still recovers from being attacked, she learns surprising news about her boss and her best friend.

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7 -So Simple, So Complicated 

Kate simply stared at him for a moment, unaware that a third person entered the room. Only when another chair was pulled over and a pair of black pigtails bounced into view, she blinked and forced herself to focus her thoughts on the here and now. "Why should I do that, Gibbs?" She asked and tried to read his eyes.

He simply shrugged and continued to pick through his food. Abby grabbed herself a plate and started to join their breakfast. "Hey, that´s the best bacon I´ve ever had. Did you sleep at all, Kate? You look tired." She added and put the fork down again. Her gaze drifted over to Gibbs, who didn´t look much better. "Hangover or interesting night, uncle J?" She asked and ducked when he tried to slap the back of her head.

"Abby..." He growled, but didn´t say anything else as the pain in his head got worse from the sudden movement. "Why don´t you two make yourselves a nice day in the mall and let an old man sleep?" He said then and tossed his fork onto the plate.

Kate looked at Abby, who just nodded. "All right, if you insist. There is a pack of painkillers on your nightstand. See you on Monday." She told him and put her plate into the sink before heading towards the front door. She searched her coat for her cellphone and checked if there were any messages. Actually she wanted to give Abby a moment to talk to Gibbs -it seemed like they had something to talk about after all.

Abby picked her own plate up as well, but hesitated for a moment. "Did you tell her?" She asked, but he just shook his head. Obviously, Kate hadn´t talked to him about this specific topic yet. Maybe that was good, maybe not. Abby had seen him falling in love with different women over the years, but none of them had been quite like Kate. She was still hoping for a happy end -after all the changes in his behavior were obvious when Kate was around. "You should, you know? I know you love her, uncle J. It´s so simple to see, you know?"

Gibbs groaned and put his head into his hands. "Abbs, just go and have a nice day, okay? We can talk about it when my head doesn´t feel like Dinozzo hit me with the MCRT truck. And it´s not that simple -it´s more like so complicated because she´s working for me -no matter if I love her, which I do." He said and decided that he would never touch any scotch ever again. He looked up when he heard the front door closing and sighed. A part of him really wanted to talk to Kate about how he felt, another part warned him that he had tried this three times before and always had failed. He walked back upstairs and slumped onto his bed, welcoming the peaceful slumber that took him away from his headache for a while.

Kate and Abby made their way to a mall that lay just a few miles from the house. "Now, spill it. What did you talk about?" Kate asked and looked at her friend as they walked through the main entrance. She smelled fresh coffee as they passed a cafe and scolded herself for having breakfast that morning as she didn´t feel like having a second breakfast at all.

"Nothing really." The goth replied and stopped in front of a fashion store. She looked at a black skirt that had silver metal rings all over it. "Wow, that looks great." She said after a moment and literally stormed into the store even before Kate could ask her again. She grabbed a skirt and dove into a changing booth.

With a sigh, Kate followed and leaned against the wall. "Why are you trying to get around an answer? C´mon, tell. I told you how I feel about him already -can´t be much worse." She said and waited for an answer. For a moment, there was no sound from inside the booth, but then Abby´s head appeared above the wooden door. She looked a bit nervous somehow.

"Uhm, well...I asked him if he talked to you about...well, about how he feels -I guess he didn´t, so I didn´t want to bug him about it." She said, but something in her eyes gave away that she wasn´t telling everything. Kate didn´t need to say anything, but simply gave her a look that would have Dinozzo seeking cover. "Yeah, okay, all right. He´s in love with you but doesn´t know how to deal with it. You´re working for him -and he´s tried 3 times to find someone to share his life with -and failed each time." The goth reappeared from the booth, not even looking at the skirt again. "He´s afraid to lose you, Kate. He really is."

Both women walked out of the store and sat down in a small cafe. "I need some coffee." Kate muttered after listening to what her friend had just told her. It took a few minutes for all the information to sink in. "I´m screwed, Abby. I´m in love with my boss, who is an ex-marine, has been divorced three times and who has those stupid marine rules about carrying a knife and most of all dating someone you work with. It´s so complicated." She said after a moment and looked up to the ceiling.

"Just what is it with the two of you -it´s not complicated at all. You love him, he loves you -it´s so simple, Kate. And for the rules -he made those up when you joined the team. He wanted to protect himself -and maybe you too. It´s up to you, I know, but I really want him to be happy. He gave so much to raise me. He deserves someone who knows that he´s not just that bastard he always tries to portray at work." With that, Abby took a sip of her coffee and sent a silent prayer to heaven that those who were closest to her would finally manage to break down those walls they had built up to protect themselves from their true feelings. It was so simple, how could they say it was complicated at all? In the back of her mind, an idea slowly took shape and she had to hide the smile that was trying to creep over her face.


End file.
